


A Mother's Heart

by Sanshal



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Parental Dean, Protective Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7482372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanshal/pseuds/Sanshal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone makes a snide comment along the lines of "Dude, is he your brother or your mom?" and suddenly Sam can't stop noticing all these quirks Dean has, all these things he does for/to Sam that, when Sam takes a step back to actually consider them, really do come across as more maternal than brotherly... with the implication that Dean's been mommying Sam forever and Sam's just been too used to it to notice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Version 1

**Author's Note:**

> (Written for a prompt on spn_kink  meme):   
> Complete prompt at the end.
> 
>  
> 
> A/n - Got 2 fills for this one. Unrelated, but I a putting them up as Versions 1 & 2.  
> \----

 

  
**A Mother's Heart**

  


  
  


  
\----  
Version 1  
\---

A chilled bottle of beer thumped down on the table in front of him, rousing Sam from his thoughts. He offered up a tired smile at their adoptive father as he reached for the condensation drenched bottle and took a swig only to realize that it was unopened. Glad that Bobby hadn’t noticed his idiocy, he carefully placed it back on the table acting nonchalant.

He tried to focus on the lore he was reading but his traitorous mind kept drifting back to their last case. Even though they had put an end to the creature; they were still in the dark about its original name. The... _thing_ \- whatever it was; had been responsible for the death of eleven women by the time the case had come to the notice of the Winchesters. Originally they had assumed that the women were somehow responsible for hurting ‘boy’ and now his spirit was avenging his death; but then they realised that the women were genuinely ‘good’ people...warm and loving, always a kind word for everyone they came into contact with... according to reports, not a single witness had anything bad to say about any of them. That had puzzled Sam because their deaths had been particularly horrific: their hearts had been cut out while they’d still had breath.

Of course, that little reveal had lead Den to suggest they were dealing with a werewolf, but the way the hearts had been removed was too clinical to match a volatile beast like a werewolf.

It had been Bobby who’d uncovered the obscure little tale about a boy falling under the spell of a dark witch and over time agreeing to retrieve his mother’s heart for her and called them just as they were rolling into town. Under the enchantment, he had proceeded to commit matricide and carve his mother’s heart out of her chest. Not wanting to spoil the ‘gift’ for his lover, he had wrapped the heart in a piece of fabric that the witch had provided and walked back the treacherous forest path to where the enchantress resided. On the way, he’d tripped over an outgrown root and stumbled, the heart slipping from his grasp and rolling away. The cloth had fallen off and the moment the heart had been free, the boy’s mother’s spirit had materialized. However, instead of accusing him of murdering her, the mother’s spirit had been more concerned about whether he’d hurt himself when he’d fallen. The mother’s unconditional love had broken the enchantress’ spell and the boy had come back to his senses realising he’d committed matricide. ... For whatever reason, the boy’s spirit had become animated again and was now searching for selfless love such as that of his own mother.

Dispatching the creature could be done by two ways: if it found selfless love again, it would subside; or a purification spell would do the job. Since they were not willing to allow any more deaths, it was obviously the second option they were planning to use. Bobby had warned them to be ‘careful’; but since the spirit specifically targeted mothers, both boys were certain that this was one case where they would be unharmed.

They were wrong. _Naturally_.

Dean got snatched barely a day into town and by the time Sam found him in the forest clearing, the dark shadowy- shape was already bent over his immobilized form, it’s blade neatly creating a bloody crevice through the centre of Dean’s chest.

Sam dispatched it before considering the implications of it, but later; as he waited for the doctors to sew Dean back up ( _Did you see the attacker, Sir? What’s his blood type? He’s going to need more blood! Any medical history we should be aware of? Anything he’s allergic to?_ ), his mind whirled over the strange break in pattern.

Bobby’s reaction when they had checked back in with the older hunter had been an exasperated _‘Idgits! I told’cha to be careful, didn’t I?_

\---  
“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”

“We in the middle of a conversation I don’t know ‘bout, boy?” The older hunter grumbled, glancing up from his reading.

Sam flushed. “At... at our last case... you- you suspected Dean would be targeted, didn’t you?”

Bobby just stared back at him wearing his most unimpressed face.

Sam stammered, “H-h-he really acts like my mom, doesn’t he?”

The older hunter relented in the face of his obvious embarrassment, “He raised you, Sam.”

“And he sold his soul for me…” Sam hung his head, “I’m the world’s biggest idiot, aren’t I?”

“You’re a kid,” Bobby smiled, “You’re _his_ kid.”

"I…I should have known, Bobby..." Sam despaired, "He used to go hungry so that I wouldn't have to; he made me my meals and then went hungry.” A sob escaped even through the tight reign he had on his emotions and Sam bowed his head, ashamed.

“He doesn’t resent you,” Bobby offered haltingly, as uncomfortable with deep emotions as the Winchesters themselves.

“I know.” Sam nodded, trying to be discreet as he checked for tears before meeting the warm eyes of their mentor, “He should,”

“Who should what?” Dean’s voice interrupted the moment and Sam closed his eyes hastily as he tried to blink away the residue of his crying jag before Dean spotted it (and worried).

He swallowed a couple of times to ensure his voice would be even and not give away the giant lump in his throat when he spoke but had to clench his eyes shut again when Dean grabbed at Sam’s abandoned beer bottle and twisted the cap off with his ring for him before sitting in the only unoccupied chair at the table with his own bottle. _It was like Dean didn’t even realize how much he looked after Sam on a day-to-day basis._

“Idgits with twenty-three stitches holding them together should be resting,” Bobby answered Dean’s question after an awkward pause when he realized that the younger Winchester was unable to formulate a reply.

Dean snorted, “Oh, Puh-lease. It’s not like I haven’t had worse.”

“Yeah well, it’s not everyday I come across a creature trying to carve your heart out, Dean.”

“I had the situation under control, Sam.” The older brother growled, immediately on the defensive.

“You never told me why it took you, boy,” Bobby interrupted before the argument escalated. “I thought it only targeted females. Or am I missing something?” The older hunter’s eyes twinkled with mirth as he teased.

“Apparently the knowledge that it was going down was enough to make the thing forget its preferences, Bobby.” Dean replied tersely.

“You sure you don’t need to tell us something, Dean?” Sam piped up, glad to have an opportunity to tease his older brother.

“Oh, you little shit!” Dean growled, as he rose, giving chase after the madly cackling gigantor.

“Dean’s a prêt-pretty princess!” Sam shouted as he escaped outside to the salvage yard, chuckling even louder at Dean’s response of ‘ _I’ll show you who’s the princess!_ ’.

Both boys were panting by the time they collapsed together to lean in the shade of a beat up old car, Sam’s hair wild from where Dean had rubbed a noogie and the older brother winded from laughing harder than he had in awhile. They sat in companionable silence for a few moments before Dean lumbered up, hand already outstretched in a silent offer to help Sam.  He smiled as he accepted the offered hand: he may not have had a lot of stuff growing up, but he had had more love than most.

The younger brother bit his lip when Dean’s eyes fell on the scratch he’d gotten on his forearm as he’d run through the yard. Green eyes darkened in worry and Sam suppressed another smile, knowing it was useless to protest while Dean examined the cut.

“When did you last get your tetanus shot?”

Sam’s heart felt two sizes too large for his chest as he followed his older brother back to the house, “Last month. After the case at that warehouse, remember?”

“Yeah.” Dean nodded, “Still, gotta clean that up, S’mmy.”

He rolled his eyes at the sweat-shirt clad muscular back ahead of him, “Yes, Mommy.”

“Brat,” Dean shot back, but the words didn’t have any heat.

The end.  



	2. Version 2

 

 

 

**A Mother's Heart**

  


 

  
\----  
Version 2  
\---

Sam bit into the burger eagerly and closed his eyes in pleasure as the flavours of the perfectly cooked tender meat burst on his tongue along with the crunch of the lettuce and the creamy smoothness of the mayonnaise. He opened his eyes once he swallowed to throw a grateful look at his brother, “You didn’t put onions,”

 

“Know you don’t like them,” Dean shrugged as he bit into his own burger.

 

They finished the rest of the meal in companionable silence and when Dean rose, he collected both plates as he headed towards the motel kitchenette to clear the residue of their meal. “Wash your hands, Sammy.”

 

Sam rolled his eyes at the joking admonishment.

 

 

_Dude, is he your brother or your mom?_

 

Sam swallowed, forcefully repressing the memory of the teasing question from the teenager he’d been interviewing at the last case when he’d been unable to find his pen and absently questioned Dean about it. _Of course his brother had found it in under a minute._

 

When he’d raised a quizzical eyebrow, the pimply faced kid had just laughed and explained that whenever he (or his friends, he had added) couldn’t find something, they’d ask their respective moms who could always locate the missing item. Apparently, there was even some sort of popular joke that an object was only really lost if ‘Mom’ was unable to find it.

 

He reflected on his life and realized that Dean had indeed always found the missing stuff he’d been unable to locate. And then he’d realized that there was tons of other stuff Dean did that were usually tasks mothers’ performed for their kids.

 

 **Cooking dinner.** That one was pretty self-explanatory. Initially it had been because he’d been too small to. … But even now, when he was fully capable of providing for himself, Dean was still the only one between them who cooked their meals (when they had the option, that is).

 

 **Fixing ‘boo-boos’**. Okay, so they usually tended to each other, but the few times he’d been treated by hunters other than Dean- _read: Dad/Bobby_ \- he’d realized that Dean was infinitely more gentle and catering to his wishes than any of the others. _Like a mother._

 

 **Holding his hair back while he threw up**.  Technically, this could be catalogued under the ‘fixing boo-boo’ header, but it was ‘special’… He’d realized that when he’d been twelve the one and only time he’d vomited with their Dad for company when Dean had gotten lost on a hunt. He had been disgruntled at being offered a hair-cut when he’d complained that ‘Dad didn’t hold his hair back the way Dean did.’

 

 **Soothing nightmares**. This, _he was embarrassed to admit even to himself_ ; Dean had done well into their adulthood. Hell, even last night he’d been woken from one by his brother. And then they had sat shooting the shit for god knew how long till Sam forgot all about his ominous dream and slipped under his covers for some more sleep.

 

 **Treats**.  Whenever he’d had some money and if he’d been away from Sam for a while; Dean returned with some gift or the other for him. It could’ve been just an apple, but the gesture was enough to tell Sam that his brother had thought about him. _And missed him._

 

 **Putting up his achievements**.  If he was allowing childhood memories into his tally he couldn’t ignore the way Dean had painstakingly pinned all of Sam’s ‘A’s on their freezer. Just like his friends’ moms had done.

 

 **Picking him from school**.  That had been the other thing. While his friends had been picked up by their mothers or fathers- _in the odd once-in-a-blue-moon way_ -; he’d _always_ had Dean collect him and drop him at school.

 

 **Protecting him from Dad**.  He’d heard stories of how his friends’ moms had stood up to shield them from the worst of their fathers’ anger and remembered that Dean had done that for him. Countless times. … It hadn’t always ended well for the older boy; but he’d still done it.

 

Sam closed his eyes and pressed his palms against them. _How had he never just realized?_

 

“Everything okay, Kiddo?”

 

He opened his eyes to find Dean looking at him with a worried little frown.

 

He nodded, managed a tiny smile. “Perfect.”

 

Dean didn’t look convinced (and Sam knew he’d be sneaking glances at him throughout his ‘tv-time’) but didn’t counter. Simply nodded and headed to the freezer to retrieve a beer.

 

“Want one?”

 

Sam shook his head and watched as the light reflected off Dean’s ring. _Mom’s ring_.

 

His brother had offered it to him once- if he wanted something to remember mom by since he’d never ‘had’ her. Sam had refused because he knew how much it meant to his brother, but now that he thought about it; he may not have ‘known’ Mary Winchester, but he’d always had a ‘mom’ nevertheless.

 

The End.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> The original prompt.Someone (a stranger?) makes a snide comment along the lines of "Dude, is he your brother or your mom?" and suddenly Sam can't stop noticing all these quirks Dean has, all these things he does for/to Sam that, when Sam takes a step back to actually consider them, really do come across as more maternal than brotherly.
> 
> I'd love for this to take place in later seasons, with the implication that Dean's been mommying Sam forever and Sam's just been too used to it to notice. Bonus points if at some point they visit Bobby and Sam cautiously brings it up and Bobby just stares at him wearing his most unimpressed face, while Sam's all flustered because darnit, he's too old for this crap, but at the same time he kind of really doesn't want Dean to stop. 
> 
> (Dean, of course, is happily oblivious to all of this, and if Sam suddenly gets all pouty when he can't get the cap off his bottle of beer and Dean removes it for him? Well, it's probably PMS or something).


End file.
